Selector lever arrangements serve to transmit a movement of the selector lever, said movement guided for example by means of a selector gate, to an input element of the automatic transmission. Since the automatic transmission is arranged remotely from the selector lever arranged in the driving compartment, the movement is transmitted by connecting means. It is advantageous in this context if the selector movement is not reversed by the transmission to the connecting means, since, as is common in transverse automatic transmissions, the connecting means have, over at least one section, a Bowden cable which by means of its tension wire allows a smooth redirection of tensile loads generated by the movement. In this context, it is simultaneously necessary that in the installation position, the connecting means are guided out of the passenger compartment at a certain level at which neither assemblies, particularly heating assemblies, arranged between a passenger compartment and a motor space are located nor at which the connecting means need be disadvantageously guided through the vehicle floor. This requires that the design size of the selector lever arrangement must be as compact as possible, especially since in addition a relatively small installation space for the selector lever arrangement may be provided in newer vehicles.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a selector lever arrangement of the type mentioned in the introduction which is of compact design, whose connecting means may be arranged at a desired height in the installation position and which avoids a reversal of the selector movement of the selector lever.
According to the invention, the set object is achieved in that the connecting arrangement has a planetary gear mechanism, the selector lever being connected to the input side of the planetary gear mechanism and the connecting means being connected to the output side of the planetary gear mechanism.
A planetary gear mechanism may on account of its specific design have a particularly compact shape so that the selector lever arrangement may be given a correspondingly compact design. It is thus possible, in the installation position of the selector lever arrangement in a vehicle, to guide the connecting means to the gear mechanism at a desired height so that other components, particularly heating units, do not form a restraint nor is a lead-through through the vehicle floor necessary. In addition, as described later, it is possible to avoid the need to reverse the direction of the selector movement corresponding to the set object in its transmission to the connecting means.
An embodiment is preferred in which the planetary gear mechanism has gear mechanism elements in the form of an internal gear having inner tooth gearing or ring gear, at least one planet gear arranged on a planet carrier, and a sun gear. In the embodiment of a gear mechanism element as an outwardly located internal gear, the internal gear and the sun gear are arranged concentrically with the sun gear on the inside and the internal gear on the outside, so that the rotational axes of the internal gear and the sun gear coincide. The planet gears are arranged rotatably on the planet carrier with a rotational axis preferably parallel to the rotational axes of the internal gear and the sun gear and arranged kinematically and in terms of position between the internal gear and the sun gear, and between the gear rims of the internal gear and the sun gear, respectively. In this way, a particularly simple, robust and simultaneously compact embodiment of the planetary gear mechanism is proposed.
The connecting means preferably engage circumferentially and in an approximately tangential engagement direction on that gear mechanism element which is designed as an output side. In this way, the greatest possible selector path, which can be transmitted by connecting means, is generated with the transmission from the gear mechanism element designed as an output side to the connecting means. The selector path is in this case dependent on the cosine of the angle between the engagement direction and the radius to the circumferential engagement point at which the connection means engage on the gear mechanism element designed as an output side. Relative to the rotational axis of the gear mechanism element designed as an output side, the engagement point is preferably on that side of the gear mechanism element designed as an output side which faces away from the selector lever and is thus arranged on the underside of the planetary gear mechanism in the installation position of the selector lever arrangement in a vehicle.
In general, the planetary gear mechanism is a gear mechanism with three shafts, two of which are implemented as inputs and one as an output, one of which is implemented as an input and two as outputs, or one of which is implemented as an input, one is fixed relative to a base and one is implemented as an output. In this case, the last described version having one input shaft, one shaft fixed relative to a base and one output shaft is preferred since this gives complete transmission of torque. In this case, an embodiment is preferred in which the planet carrier is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to a base. With the rotationally fixed planet carrier, the spatial arrangement of the planet gears relative to the base, preferably relative to a gear mechanism housing of the planetary gear mechanism, is fixed and complete transmission of torque is possible by means of the planet gears from the sun gear to the internal gear or, conversely, by means of the planet gears from the internal gear to the sun gear, which transmission of torque brings with it a simplification, described later, in the design of the selector lever arrangement.
In a preferred development, the rotational axes of the sun gear and of the internal gear coincide with the pivot axis of the selector lever. Since the pivot axis of the selector lever is the same as the central rotational axes of the sun gear and internal gear and is thus positioned in the centre of the sun gear mechanism, the selector lever may engage directly on the input side of the planetary gear mechanism on the sun gear or on the internal gear, without further transmission means and pivoting and with a large lever length necessary for comfortable execution of the selector movement and thus with a correspondingly large lever force. In this way, the selector lever length which projects above the gear mechanism may be correspondingly reduced, which may additionally contribute to the compact design of the selector lever arrangement.
The internal gear is preferably connected, as an input side of the planetary gear mechanism, in a rotationally fixed manner to the selector lever, while the sun gear is connected, as an output side of the planetary gear mechanism, in a positive and/or non-positive manner to the connecting means. In addition, if in one preferred embodiment the planet carrier is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the base, the selector movement transmitted to the internal gear is completely transmitted to the sun gear via the planet gear and reversed in direction. In this case, the selector lever preferably engages on the outer side of the internal gear, as a result of which the greatest possible lever for transmitting the selector movement from the selector lever to the internal gear is obtained. The selector lever and internal gear may in this case be embodied in one piece. The selector lever may also engage on the end side of the internal gear.
In another embodiment, conversely to the previously described embodiment, the sun gear may be connected, as an input side of the planetary gear mechanism, in a rotationally fixed manner to the selector lever, while the internal gear is connected to the connecting means, as an input side of the planetary gear mechanism, in a positive and/or non-positive manner. In this case, the selector lever may in the same way engage on an end side of the sun gear, the selector lever preferably engaging on as radially outward a point as possible on the sun gear in order to obtain as large a lever arm as possible for transmitting the force exerted on the sun gear by means of the selector lever. The sun gear and selector lever may also be produced in one piece.
In a preferred development of the selector lever arrangement, the internal gear is designed as a gear segment. The compact shape of the selector lever arrangement, particularly of the planetary gear mechanism, is further enhanced by means of the reduction of the internal gear to a gear segment. The required size of the gear segments depends on the size of the pivoting movement of the lever. If the pivoting movement is transmitted from the sun gear or from the internal gear with a ratio of 1:1 to the internal gear or to the sun gear respectively, pivoting movements of the selector lever and gear segment must correspond to at least one common circle centre angle. In order to ensure secure mutual engagement of the gear segment and sun gear in this case, the circle centre angle of the gear segment should be designed to be slightly larger than that of the pivoting movement of the selector lever.
The gear segment of the internal gear is preferably arranged laterally relative to the longitudinal extent of the selector lever. As a result it is possible to reduce the dimensioning of the planetary gear mechanism in the longitudinal direction and in the direction of the engagement force of the selector lever and thus to make the selector lever arrangement more compact.
In a likewise preferred embodiment of the selector lever arrangement, the sun gear is designed as a gear segment. In this case, as in the embodiment of the internal gear as a gear segment, the required size of the gear segment is particularly dependent on the size of the circle centre angle of the pivoting movement of the selector lever.
In one advantageous development, both gear mechanism elements, the sun gear and the internal gear, may be designed as gear segments. In this case, an embodiment is preferred in which the selector lever engages on the gear segment of the sun gear on the input side while the internal gear engages on the connecting means on the output side. In this case, both gear mechanism elements, the sun gear and the internal gear, may be arranged relative to the pivot axis on that side of the planetary gear mechanism facing away from the selector lever, that is to say, in the installation position of the selector lever arrangement in a vehicle, on the lower side of the planetary gear mechanism, to which the connecting means preferably also lead. In another embodiment, the selector lever may engage on the gear segment of the internal gear on the input side while the gear segment of the sun gear is connected to the connecting means on the output side.
In one preferred development, the planetary gear mechanism may have a single planet gear. This embodiment is particularly appropriate if the internal gear and/or the sun gear are designed as gear segments, the single planet gear being respectively arranged between the segments or between the segment and the gear mechanism element which is not designed as a segment. As a result, the planetary gear mechanism is simplified and its compact embodiment further enhanced.
To connect the connecting means to the input side of the planetary gear mechanism, extension elements may be provided which extend from the input side to the engagement point. The extension elements are preferably connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the input side of the planetary gear mechanism. These extension elements may be designed, for example, to produce a desired lever arm, that is to say a distance between the pivot axis and the engagement point. Furthermore, the extension elements may extend from a gear mechanism element—which is embodied as an output side, is designed as a gear segment and relative to the selector lever is arranged laterally in the planetary gear mechanism—to the engagement point, the engagement point described above being advantageously arranged relative to the pivot axis on that side of the planetary gear mechanism facing away from the selector lever, that is to say, in the installation position, on the lower side of the planetary gear mechanism, in order to transmit the rotational selector movement generated by the pivoting of the selector lever as completely as possible to connecting means with linear movement, for example to a Bowden cable.
In order to transfer the selector movement, the connecting means may engage on the planetary gear mechanism by means of a Bowden cable. A Bowden cable has an inner tension wire or the like and an outer tube. In this case, the tube may be fastened to the base while one end of the wire projecting beyond the tube may be circumferentially wound onto the gear mechanism element which is designed as an output guide. A rod may however also be provided instead of a Bowden cable, which rod may be used particularly in the case of a longitudinally arranged automatic transmission.